


(no) creature will haunt you

by Archistratego



Category: Frankenstein - Mary Shelley, Penny Dreadful (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Lots of Tea, confessions that are not quite truthful, frankenstein fanwork exchange, i still have no idea what i'm doing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-03 22:58:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15828666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archistratego/pseuds/Archistratego
Summary: — as if he has been trudging outside all night, through grasslands and swamps and forest and halfway around the world, running from monsters that haunt him.





	(no) creature will haunt you

Jekyll sits with his pen poised over his notepad; he’s stopped feigning not taking notes once he had noticed Victor’s absorption: the glazed look, sunken cheeks, and brittle wrists as he gestures with enough force to break objects in his path. Shards belonging to three cups of tea stand as testament to Victor’s mania. The fourth cup has been drained halfway.

(Dr.Jekyll would be hard pressed to use another word for it, and he finds himself concerned on a _professional_ level — he’s very used to being concerned about Victor as a friend but seldom has his once fellow classmate piqued his professional curiosity). 

“I need you to begin your story again, my friend.” Jekyll keeps his voice even and soothing, he hopes to coax all the details he needs to make an executive decision about what to do. Whether this is something in his hands or something better dealt with by _Lord_ Hyde. His deceased father’s money and title are the inheritance Jekyll always yearned for, and now he is poised to take advantage of them. He waited his entire life — stood for all the belittling, racist comments from his family and peers. This time it was his turn to get whatever he wanted.

Though what that is is up for debate. He’s content right now to settle for it being Victor’s company.

“Were you not listening?” Victor is all spitting anger and splintering down the middle with despair. “It’s — I’ve made a terrible mistake.” And with that statement, Jekyll can’t really disagree because it is true that Victor has made more than a few mistakes increasing in severity. “It— he — it, what to call it? I don’t know what to call it. It’s unnatural, a _monster_.”

Jekyll’s eyes flick to the damp mud staining his carpet; Victor’s boots the culprit — as if he has been trudging outside all night, through grasslands and swamps and forest and halfway around the world, running from monsters that haunt him. “And you said it has been chasing you for…” He pauses to scribble down, the scratching sound of his pen filling out the empty pages of the notebook. “…a year at least?”

“Correct, yes. I think” Victor hesitates, running his fingers along the seams of his coat, trying to ground himself. There is dirt the colour of rust flaking from the tips of his fingers. His nails look cracked, knuckles bruised — a moment of dread following the realisation: _not dirt, but blood_. 

Victor seems unaware, uncaring of the fact; Jekyll makes another note in swirling blacks: _paranoia?_ Perhaps Victor’s nervousness is rubbing off but he is certain that is blood beneath Victor’s fingernails, along with dirt and skin and death. “Only God can grant souls,” Jekyll pauses, wets his lips, “By your definition you created a life without a soul, without morals so that it had to raised itself - abandoned, lost.” The creature’s grudge is justified — he wonders if murder could be too. 

“Don’t you think I know that? I should’ve killed it.” Victor is all spit and teeth as he edges forward on his chair, Jekyll leans back instinctively. The ends are unravelling, Victor’s eyes focus on a spot behind Jekyll and the hair on the back of his neck rises. “It’s found me.”

Jekyll should not turn, but the draw is impossible to resist when Victor is staring behind in such abject terror — as if a demon had manifested.

Empty.

Nothing but the swirling curtains and moon cast shadows. The bookshelves neatly arranged, everything immaculate and so so very _empty_.

By the time Jekyll realises his mistake, he feels Victor’s hand clawing his shirt — nothing behind but shadows confirming Jekyll’s suspicions.

He scrabbles backwards, avoiding the lunge and thanking himself for the foresight of spiking Victor’s fourth tea with a sedative. 

Victor’s movements are sluggish, his face twisted and mouth open in a broken howl. “It’s in your head, Victor, but worry not.” Jekyll searches for the nearest object to smash against Victor’s skull in order to silence him. “I’m a doctor and we will make you better, I swear it.

“No creature will haunt you when you’re cured.”

**Author's Note:**

> Gift for [captain-artsy-fartsy](https://captain-artsy-fartsy.tumblr.com/) as part of a fanwork exchange. Prompt was: The Creature is in Victor's mind and no one else can see him.
> 
> This was a lot of fun to work with, thank you and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!


End file.
